A man was bashed senseless in a pre-meditated attack before he was tied up with rope, gagged with his own underpants and left for dead, court documents allege.
Anthony Dent has been charged with the murder of Tony O'Grady, but details emerged for the first time on Wednesday when another man, Sidney Regan, faced court charged with concealing a serious offence.
Police facts tendered during the Newcastle Local Court hearing alleged that Mr O'Grady had been lured to a Wickham park on March 26 on the promise of a party, but as he walked across Thomas Armstrong Oval he was allegedly bashed, tied up and gagged.
The court heard that Mr Dent's DNA profile had matched the profile lifted from blood on Mr O'Grady's underpants, on the rope used to tie him up and on a pair of shorts found underneath the victim.
The facts also alleged that advice received from forensic pathologists was that Mr O'Grady would have likely survived the assault by Mr Dent if he had received "timely medical attention", but the acts of tying him up and gagging him so tightly had caused him to choke to death, the court heard.
Police allege that a plan to attack Mr O'Grady was hatched by Mr Dent and several others on the day of the murder.
They located Mr O'Grady in Mayfield, and lured him to the park on the pretext of a party.
At 7.20 that night, Mr O'Grady was seen on CCTV buying Jim Beam bourbon from cellars at Hamilton.
As he later walked across the park, police allege Mr Dent "suddenly began punching him in the face".
The assault allegedly continued before Mr O'Grady fell to his knees and then onto his face.
Mr Dent was seen to put his foot on Mr O'Grady's back, before using a piece of rope and Mr O'Grady's underpants to bind the victim's hands and feet.
A post-mortem examination on March 27 found that Mr O'Grady had suffered "multiple blunt force blows to the head" causing haemorrhaging, and asphyxiation from the gag placed in his mouth.
Mr O'Grady's credit and bank cards were allegedly stolen during the attack, along with an amount of cash.
The facts alleged that Mr Regan and Mr Dent were caught on CCTV footage attempting to use Mr O'Grady's bank card at the Hamilton branch of Newcastle Permanent shortly after he was killed.
Mr Regan lived nearby and a search warrant of his house on April 2 found credit cards cut up into tiny pieces, documents alleged.
The pieces were put back together to reveal they were Mr O'Grady's.
But despite being there for the search, it is alleged that Mr Regan failed to tell police he was with Mr Dent on the night of the attack.
"The accused deliberately concealed information in relation to the movements of the accused Dent on the night of the murder," the facts alleged.
When asked by police why he had not come forward with information, Mr Regan allegedly told police he thought they'd "get there anyway".
Mr Regan, of Lindsay Street, Hamilton, was on Wednesday granted bail but could not raise the $1000 surety needed for his release.
The court heard he was on a disability support pension and had health issues relating to cancer of his kidney and liver.
He will re-appear in court next month.
